Software Review: The Spanish Teacher
Dateline: 08/09/99Billed as "the most advanced multimedia language laboratory for your
computer," The Spanish Teacher is indeed an impressive educational package.
Despite a few quirks, with an estimated street price of $50 the software
package by Opus Educational Software
is a reasonably priced way for the student of Spanish to supplement classroom
instruction.
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| WHAT: The Spanish Teacher software package.
PUBLISHER: Opus Educational Software. PURPOSE: Teaching Spanish to English-speakers. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Multimedia PC with Windows 3.1 or better, Intel 80486 processor or better, 20 MB of free hard-disk space. Screen resolution of at least 800x600 preferred. Network version available. VERSION TESTED: 3.3. WHAT'S INCLUDED: Two CD-ROMs, microphone, stereo cable, and a basic bilingual dictionary. STREET PRICE: Around $50 U.S. WEB SITE: http://www.opusedu.com |
One of the outstanding features of The Spanish Teacher is what Opus calls Individualized Spaced-out Reinforcement Methodology. The software keeps track of what words and concepts the student knows, provides added reinforcement of unfamiliar material and periodically tests knowledge of already learned material. Opus claims that the methodology results in retention higher than 90 percent. The software keeps track of what up to five students are learning.
The Spanish Teacher is made up of three modules, each of which work independently. In effect, each of these modules functions as an independent program:
- Working on Words (WOW): This module uses drills, exams, and numerous sample sentences to teach a vocabulary of more than 25,000 words. It is the strongest of the three modules.
- Building-up In Grammar (BIG): Verb conjugation, parts of speech, and all the important aspects of grammar are explained and tested.
- Expressing Yourself in Español (EYE): Conversations covering a variety of real-life situations can be played in talking-heads video accompanied by the written text. The user can join the conversation and play it back as a way to improve pronunciation and inflection skills.
Advantages: One of the big pluses of The Spanish Teacher is that it can be used by people with different learning styles. For people who tend to learn visually, The Spanish Teacher offers plenty of on-screen explanations and color coding that makes it easy to find what is being taught. For auditory learners, The Spanish Teacher offers the opportunity to hear key parts of nearly every lesson. And even tactile learners (those who learn through touch or hands-on experience) would benefit from the instant feedback given while typing in answers on quizzes.
One of the pleasant surprises of The Spanish Teacher is its including of extensive cultural information in the lessons. In an explanation of the word comer (to eat), for example, the lesson explains that in Spain it may be cheaper to eat in the bar of a restaurant than outside.
The Spanish Teacher also goes to great lengths to explain differences in the Spanish of various countries.
Disadvantages: The Spanish Teacher is probably best used to supplement classroom studies, or as a learning tool for someone who already has some knowledge of the language. Many of the instructions and most of the dialogue boxes are in Spanish — effective for intermediate speakers or better, but frustrating for someone who has to right-click on every word to struggle with what each word means. There is plenty to be said for immersion instruction, but for impatient learners this could be too much too soon. It would probably be possible for someone to learn passable Spanish using only this software, but it would be a frustrating challenge.
My biggest complaint with The Spanish Teacher is that its vocabulary quizzes expect answers to be given in the basic form (such as singular masculine for adjectives). For example, if the test question were La vida es ______, the answer to type in to receive credit would be bello, the basic form of the word. But the form of the word that would be correctly used in the sentence is bella, the feminine form. Allowing the user to type in the word that would actually be used in the sentence would provide a more natural way to learn.
One problem involves the otherwise excellent feature that allows the user to right-click on words to find out their meanings. The right-click feature often doesn't detect idioms. For example, the idiom hay que means "it is necessary." But there is no way to find that out by clicking on each word individually.
Technical issues: The Spanish Teacher has quite modest technical requirements and should be installable on nearly any multimedia PC, even ones still using Windows 3.1. A review copy was easily and quickly installed on two computers with only one minor problem: On the newer computer, an error message would pop up occasionally when using the record/playback function, probably because the computer had had some of its sound functions modified from the usual Windows 98 configuration. Otherwise, the program had no problem running on either computer. The Opus Web site offers minimal technical support (possibly because there are few problems running the software), but the company will provide help through email.
One pet peeve about the installation: One of the undocumented features of The Spanish Teacher is a screen-saver that displays bounce-around-the-screen words that the user is having difficulty learning. Although the screen-saver is surprisingly useful, it would be more polite to give the user the option of not activating it.
Final comments: The Spanish Teacher would be an effective tool for people who need to build their Spanish vocabulary or to strengthen their knowledge of Spanish grammar. Although it might be frustrating to use as the only source of instruction for an absolute beginner, it is particularly well suited for the intermediate student.
